At American University (AU), interns don't just fetch coffee or make copies. They work in one of the most exciting cities in the world and learn about their fields and themselves through stimulating experiences.

If you want to know what an internship is really like, read this intern blog, which covers a wide variety of academic programs and career fields.

Blog authors are solely responsible for the content they post. Neither the content of the blog, nor the links to other websites, are approved, revised, or endorsed by American University, the Career Center, or any other AU-affiliated entity. The text and other material in the Intern Blog are the opinion of the specific author and are not statements of advice, opinion, or information by American University.

If you would like to share your story as an intern blogger, email Ashley Boney, AU Career Center Assistant Director, Marketing and Communications, for information or training.

People write different ways depending on their audience. For instance, I have begun to frequently write blog posts for The Ad Council’s official blog AdLibbing and am very careful about my language, tone, and content. Afterall, this blog is a great way for me to show off my personality and critical thinking capacities to both my supervisor and high level Ad Council professionals.

On here, the AU Intern Blog, I was much more casual in my blog posts caring admittedly less about sentence structure and in-depth, personal analysis. Therefore, it was much to my mortification and horror when I saw my first blog post on here sent out to a large part of the Ad Council PR team for reference. It was then that I realized that I’m not just writing for my peers or for a $50 Amazon gift card – I’m writing for my employer as well. This prompted a quick Google search of myself and a frantic effort to protect my online identity.(More …)

I can only second what you said about protecting your online identity. Things can come back to haunt you even when you have long forgotten about them. And I know (from sitting in the office with people while this was happening at another internship) that some companies will thoroughly search for your online “resume” more so than looking through your real resume and cover letter.